At least two *deeply wrong* opinions

Media statistic of the week 

It’s the end of the decade, and you know what that means: lists. Lots of lists. Google Trends has compiled the decade in search, which includes a whole host of lists, including the most popular searches of each year of the 2010s. Looking for some more lists, and lists of lists? Well, keep scrolling!

This week in media history 

On January 1, 1976, NBC replaced its Peacock logo with a fancy-cut “N” logo consisting of two trapezoids. The new logo (and its $1 million design cost) was the subject of some controversy. It was mocked by the network’s own Saturday Night Live on the January 10, 1976 telecast of the show. Then in February, Nebraska’s chain of PBS affiliates, Nebraska ETV Network, sued NBC for trademark infringement since, other than the coloring, the logo was virtually identical to the one that Nebraska ETV had been using since 1974. The Peacock returned in the fall of 1979. NBC’s new streaming service, “Peacock,” pays homage to the famous feathered logo and will debut in April.

This week in the media industry 

The scale of contraction is shocking

“Since the Internet arrived in earnest 25 years ago, almost nobody — not the savviest investment bankers, the most well-meaning editors, local entrepreneurs or generous philanthropists — has figured out a sustainable way to continue producing local news.” That’s The Washington Post’s Jonathan O'Connell, writing about ghost papers and news deserts and wondering, will America ever get its local news back? 

Corbin Hiar notes, “While the decline in journalism jobs is old news, the scale of contraction remains shocking: ‘America lost a quarter of its journalists from 2008 to 2018, the vast majority of them covering local issues... Newsrooms lost at least 3,800 jobs in 2019 alone.’” And Margot Roosevelt highlights the fact that “Just 14% of the public is paying for local news. If that doesn’t rise, many newspapers and digital publishers will be unable to maintain the reporting they are doing now.”

So, what might the solution be? “As this @washingtonpost article states, the key to the survival of newspapers is to look at papers less like profit-making commodities, and more like community assets that must be protected,” tweets the Buffalo Newspaper Guild.

Meanwhile, the Seattle Times Editorial Board points out that communities are the winners of new federal law to save local journalism. The Save the Community Newspaper Act will allow privately held community newspapers to stretch out payments owed to pension plans, and “that longer runway means the difference between an imminent bankruptcy threat and a fair shot at long-term stability.”

‘The stories they still had in their notebooks’

Even so, “So many stories that won’t get covered. This is what the death of local news looks like,” tweets Willoughby Mariano. Head over to The New York Times, where Sarah Mervosh, Amy Harmon and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs interview eight one-time local journalists, who talk about “the stories they still had in their notebooks. To capture their images, we turned to photojournalists who used to work alongside them, until they lost their jobs as well.”

Harmon notes that “All the laid-off local news reporters I talked to for this were STILL WORKING on their untold stories. Tipping off other journos or hoping for freelance assignment -they just couldn’t stop reporting. Grateful to all who shared w/us.”

About last decade

There will be lists. 

We’ll start with 2019, and if you want to cut to the chase, Poynter’s A. Dvorak has aggregated a year-end list of year-end lists: version 2k19. From TV to movies to sports to music to photos, Dvorak’s gathered a bunch of the “best ofs” all in one place for you.

In case you missed this one, Kalhan Rosenblatt of NBC News tweets, “Merry Christmas! I got you this story in which I spoke to @nerdcity, @kurtisconner, @ijustine, @jakepaul, @grandayy & @DolanDark about how they see the last decade of internet culture. Here’s my last big story of the year for @NBCNews.” Read that one to find out How social media has changed in the past decade, according to its influencers.

At Fast Company, Yasmin Gagne shares the story of My decade on Instagram, the 2010s’ most superficial social network. Sammy Roth calls it a “Thoughtful and slightly unnerving piece from @YasminGagne on how Instagram changed the way we live and understand ourselves in the 2010s.”

On Twitter, Brandy Zadrozny shares, “The most socially engaging article by miles about cancer in 2019 got 5.4 million shares, comments, and likes. The subject? A stew of medical conspiracies, including that ‘Big Pharma,’ and doctors are hiding a cure for cancer.” Read her piece for NBC News, Social media hosted a lot of fake health news this year. Here’s what went most viral. 

On this next list, you’ll find “At least two *deeply wrong* opinions. In the words of Stephen T. Colbert, ‘I’m not a fan of facts, the facts can change, but my opinion will never change.’” That’s Maggie Wrobel’s opinion of The 10 Most Overrated Films of the Decade, by Owen Gleiberman of Variety. “Have to say, I enjoy these dynamite-in-the-pond type of lists, and the knee jerk squeals they draw from critics. They expose the pros to their habit of tribalism. All shibboleths need a little prodding. There’s a shiver of self-mockery here too,” notes Ian Nathan.

The New York Times offers up 33 ways to remember the 2010s, with a look back at what we watched, heard, read, liked and shared. A warning, from Adam Sternbergh: “omg this is culture crack.” Rebecca Zamon agrees: “Wowowow. This is gorgeous and fascinating and so so so well-crafted and going to consume many hours of my life.” And sure, we have a LOT of these, but as Monica Drake says, “If you don’t have time to look at the end of the decade, are you really living your life right?”

Even more lists

• CBS News highlights the top stories of each of the past ten years for its decade in review.
• Check out the 10 lists that define the 2010s, from USA Today’s Jim Sergent, Ryan Miller and Janet Loehrke.
• For XXL Magazine, Claudia McNeilly wrote about how social media changed hip-hop in the 2010s.
• Audrey Schomer of Business Insider highlights five moments that defined digital media in 2019.
• If you’re a subscriber to the Muck Rack Daily or this newsletter, you know this is a list that’s near and dear to our hearts. The staff at Social Media Week have rounded up GIPHY’s 25 Most Popular GIFs Of 2019. We couldn’t do it without you, GIPHY.

In defense of Twitter

Reflecting on a “decade of distrust,” Dr. Sarah Jackson, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, takes a stand for Twitter in an opinion piece for The New York Times, writing that, “Despite it all, the way we use Twitter made this decade better.” 

Tweets Perry Bacon Jr., “As @sjjphd explains, Twitter has shifted power. The next time someone is criticizing ‘Twitter,’ it's worth asking: do they not know Twitter has given power to perspectives/people previously ignored or is that power shift really what they are upset about?” “Accountability is a major gift, for both writers and their audiences,” adds Lauren Collins. “Thank you, @sjjphd, for expressing this so intelligently.”

Looking ahead

• Neiman Lab offers up Predictions for Journalism 2020, based on what “some of the smartest people in journalism and digital media” have told them they think is coming in the next 12 months. That list keeps growing, so check back regularly.
• Media Executives Share Their 2020 Predictions with AdWeek’s Sara Jerde.
• At Digiday, Seb Joseph explains why ‘data provenance’ will be the new media-transparency issue in 2020.
• Jabari Young of CNBC notes that with NFL ratings recovering, new media deals could be on the 2020 agenda.

Some helpful guides

A couple of holiday gifts for you, courtesy of Reuters and Bellingcat.

First up is the Reuters guide to Manipulated media, in association with the Facebook Journalism Project. Reuters’ Hazel Baker explains that this in-depth course into manipulated media “includes explanations and examples of new forms of synthetic media, along with an assessment of the full range of ways visual material may mislead. It also challenges participants to place themselves into a breaking news situation and consider the steps they can take in order to establish the facts around the pictures and video they obtain.”

And at Bellingcat, Aric Toler has published a massive Guide To Using Reverse Image Search For Investigations. On Twitter, he explains, “I test out the Big Three services, ranking them with a running scorecard, and detail some creative search strategies at the end of the guide.”

From the Muck Rack Team:

Muck Rack’s Emma Haddad checked in with 10 PR professionals to find out the biggest challenges they faced in 2019 — and to hear their predictions for the public relations industry as we head into 2020. Over on the blog, she shares their PR predictions for 2020: 10 industry pros weigh in.

We published nearly 200 blog posts to the Muck Rack Blog in 2019, and Jessica Lawlor gives the year a proper send-off by rounding up the 19 most popular Muck Rack posts in 2019.

Question of the week

What are your big takeaways from the last decade in journalism and media? Any predictions for the next ten years? Share your thoughts in the comments.